title: Enhanced performance of p-type dye-sensitized solar cells based on ultrasmall Mg-doped CuCrO2 nanocrystals.
abstract: Herein, we present ultrasmall delafossite-type Mg-doped CuCrO2 nanocrystals prepared by using hydrothermal synthesis and their first application as photocathodes in efficient p-type dye-sensitized solar cells. The short-circuit current density (Jsc ) is notably increased by approximately 27% owing to the decreased crystallite size and the enhanced optical transmittance associated with Mg doping of the CuCrO2 nanocrystalline sample. An open-circuit voltage (Voc ) of 201 mV, Jsc of 1.51 mA cm(-2) , fill factor of 0.449, and overall photoconversion efficiency of 0.132% have been achieved with the CuCr0.9 Mg 0.1 O2 dye photocathode sensitized with the P1 dye under optimized conditions. This efficiency is nearly three times higher than that of the NiO-based reference device, which is attributed to the largely improved Voc and Jsc . The augmentation of Voc and Jsc can be attributed to the lower valance band position and the faster hole diffusion coefficient of CuCr0.9 Mg 0.1 O2 compared to those of the NiO reference, respectively, which leads to a higher hole collection efficiency.
authors.affiliation: Michael Grätzel Center for Mesoscopic Solar Cells, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, College of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 PR China.
authors.forename: Dehua
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xianwei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Mingkui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Licheng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yi-Bing
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D017608:Chromium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D008274:Magnesium / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D012993:Solar Energy
chemical_list: D017608:Chromium Compounds; D004396:Coloring Agents; D010087:Oxides; D003300:Copper; D008274:Magnesium
keywords: delaffosite oxides; doping; hydrothermal synthesis; semiconductors; solar cells